Chinese electric-vehicle maker XPeng announced that it will recall 13,399 G3 electric sport utility vehicles. This is its first vehicle recall since it was introduced to American exchanges in August. The company will recall 13,399 G3 electric sport utility vehicles due to an inverter issue that may cause the vehicle to lose power and lead to a safety risk, according to China's State...

Tesla shares have experienced a meteoric rise over the past couple of years. And that was before the company ever booked a full-year profit. 2020 changed that, with Tesla reporting a profit of $721 million on about $31.5 billion in sales. These earnings fell short of Wall Street estimates, however, and the stock traded down on the news. In 2019, Tesla booked a $862 million loss on $24.6...

 “The content threshold of 50% [isn’t] high enough, and the way we measure the content doesn’t account for U.S. jobs and economic activity,” Biden said.The executive action I’m signing today will not only require the companies make more of their components in America, but that the value of those components is contributing to our economy, measured by things like a number of American jobs created and/or supported.”

 

 

China is the world's largest EV market, so any progress made is important to Tesla and its long-term growth plans.

Tesla says it wants to increase vehicle from about 500,000 per year today to over 20 million annually by 2030.These are ambitious growth targets, but investors need to ask two questions:

1. Can Tesla maintain its market share with more competitors rolling out new products?
2. Is Tesla's future growth already priced into its current stock price?

Tickeron's A.I.

Shares of General Motors  climbed Tuesday, after software behemoth Microsoft  partnered with the car company's self-driving car startup Cruise .

Microsoft and GM are leading a $2 billion investment round in Cruise.The two companies aim to combine their software and hardware engineering capabilities , cloud-computing technologies and manufacturing knowledge in the self-driving-vehicle market. 

The additional funds will raise Cruise’s valuation to an estimated $30 billion, up from $19 billion when T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. invested in the company in 2019, Cruise said in a statement Monday.

"Our mission to bring safer, better and more affordable transportation to everyone isn't just a tech race – it's also a trust race," Cruise Chief Executive Dan Ammann said in a statement.

 

Ford Motor is ending vehicle manufacturing in Brazil, as part of a restructuring process.

The automaker is shutting three plants in Brazil, as part of the South America restructuring process which is estimated to lead to $4.1 billion in pretax charges, according to the company’s statement.

Ford is currently restructuring its global operations, including those in South America.The company aims to execute a $11 billion turnaround plan, and hopes to achieve an 8% adjusted EBIT margin and to consistently generate strong adjusted free cash flow.

Shares of Chinese electric carmaker NIO   unveiled its first battery-powered sedan ET7.Deliveries will begin the first quarter of 2022.

NIO also launched a bigger volume battery pack that promises to boost driving range, an upgraded autopilot system and the second iteration of its battery-swap station.

The ET7 offers two battery options, 70 kWh and 100 kWh, that provide a range of 311 miles and 435 miles, respectively.

Ford Motor’s U.S. auto sales  plunged -15.6% in 2020, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, a decrease in commercial fleet sales, and lower inventories of its F-150 pickup trucks.

Fourth quarter sales of the full-size pickup fell -33% year-over-year, amid factory shutdowns last spring due to Covid-19 as well as a changeover in production of the facilities to produce the redesigned F-150.

“We’re optimizing the production at both plants right now and it’s a matter of getting more F-150s out to our dealer lots,” Erich Merkle, Ford’s head of U.S. sales analysis, told CNBC.He said inventories of the F-150 were 141,000 units as of end last year, compared to  267,000 a year earlier.

The company’s truck sales fell -11.3% in 2020.

Tesla Inc. shares got a price target boost from analysts at Morgan Stanley.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas increased his price target on the electric carmaker’s stock by $270, to $810 per share.According to Jonas, the clean-energy carmaker is  the industry's "chosen one" due to the company’s people, its technology, business model and access to capital.

Jonas also mentioned that Tesla has “no entanglement with the environmental liabilities that burden legacy competition" .

According to two analysts, electric carmaker Tesla should be able to reach its goal of 500,000 deliveries for 2020.

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a commentary that Tesla’s  180,000 for 4Q is “line in the sand”, and with  the underlying strength in China as well as a late push in Europe and the U.S., 190,000-200,000 is “well within reach”.This  could enable Tesla to achieve its 500,000 delivery for the year.

Ives maintained his neutral rating on Tesla with a $715 price target.

Credit Suisse analyst Dan Levy expects 183,000 deliveries for this quarter (above what he views as the sell-side consensus of 163,000 and the probable buy-side consensus for 175,000 to 180,000 deliveries).

General Motors  is recalling almost 840,000 vehicles in the U.S., due to suspension issues or problems with front seat belts.

According to the automaker, the seat-belt brackets may not have been secured to the frame, so the belts might fail to hold people in a crash.Owners will be notified starting February 1.

The suspension recall covers the 2012 and 2013 Buick Regal, the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, and the 2010 through 2013 Buick Lacrosse midsize cars that were sold or registered in salt-belt states.

The latest recall report follows last month’s announcement from GM that it would recall 6 million pickup trucks and SUVs after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said they had potentially faulty airbags. 

Only Tesla, Volkswagen, and Toyota are bigger. 

NIO was once branded as the "Tesla killer," but the company struggled early to gain any traction and was burning through billions of dollars.But investors who have been witnessing -- or perhaps participating -- in Tesla's meteoric rise may be looking to competitor EV companies in hopes of riding a similar wave of enthusiasm.

NIO is still a far cry from Tesla.

Tesla   said it would sell around $5 billion worth of shares, ahead of its debut on the S&P 500 month. The electric carmaker mentioned the 'at-the-market' offering and that the share will be sold “from time to time” in a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission.Tesla’s  market capitalization is $598 billion – so, the new offering represents less than 1% of the company’s value.  Tesla plans to spend $2.5 billion in 2021 and 2022, especially on new factories and expansion, including battery cell manufacturing. Data from the China Passenger Car Association showed Tesla sold 21,604 China-made vehicles last month in China, nearly double the October total and well ahead of the 11,329 sold in September.

The vehicles included some Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Sierra and GMC Yukon vehicles built over an eight-year period. GM has 30 days to give NHTSA a plan for informing vehicle owners to begin the recall.The recall will lead to an estimated cost of $1.2 billion to GM. "NHTSA concluded that the GM inflators in question are at risk of the same type of explosion after long-term exposure to high heat and humidity as other recalled Takata inflators,” the agency said.

Electric carmaker Tesla got  added to the S&P 500.Its shares will officially begin trading as part of the index on Dec. 21.The inclusion comes after the stock failed to it to the index during the latter’s quarterly rebalancing in early September. Tesla’s stock surged about +14% at 6:20 p.m. in New York, lifting Musk’s net worth to $117.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. On Saturday, Musk tweet read that he “most likely" had a moderate case of Covid-19 and has had symptoms of “a minor cold."

General Motors   announced that its assembly plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee will produce electric vehicles, becoming the company's  third production facility to do so. The Cadillac Lyriq will be the first EV produced at that location. A total of $2 billion will be invested in Spring Hill to build EVs, including the Lyriq. The auto giant already has EV producing facilities at Detroit and Orion Township, Michigan plants.This could be a long-term bullish signal for the stock as the stock shifts to an upward trend. Current price $36.08 is above $35.37 the highest support line found by A.I. Throughout the month of 09/17/20 - 10/19/20, the price experienced a +4% Uptrend.

Roth Capital analyst Craig Irwin downgraded shares of electric truck maker Workhorse Group  to neutral from buy. A a U.S.Postal Service spokesperson told Roth the USPS won’t decide who wins the competition for its next generation of delivery trucks until year-end. Irwin also slashed his share-price target on the shares to $27 from $33.

 According to Ferragu, the company has a decade of “hyper growth ahead” and it has “no credible competition on the horizon.” The analyst raised his price target on the stock to Wall Street-high of $578. Last week, Tesla delivered a record 139,300 vehicles in the third quarter, beating analysts’ expectations of 136,000 Tickeron's AI-powered scorecard rates TSLA a "BUY". According to Tickeron,  TSLA in upward trend: price expected to rise as it breaks its lower Bollinger Band on September 08, 2020 TSLA may jump back above the lower band and head toward the middle band.In 32 of 38 cases where TSLA's price broke its lower Bollinger Band, its price rose further in the following month.

However, the number might still not be too optimistic with respect to its full year target of 500,000 . Tesla said deliveries for the three months ending in September came in  at a record 139,300, just above the Street forecast.That means, Tesla needs to shift a record 166,000 cars over the last quarter of the year to meet its 2020 target of 500,000. Major contributor to the latest quarter’s deliveries were Tesla's Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUVs with 128,044 units produced, and 124,100 delivered.

The odds of a continued downward trend are 66%. Following a 3-day decline, the stock is projected to fall further.The odds of a continued upward trend are 77%. TSLA may jump back above the lower band and head toward the middle band.